Five Forty Aviation Withdraws Licences from FastJet

Five Forty Aviation Withdraws Licences from FastJet
Licences withdrawn from operations in Angola, Ghana and Tanzania for failure
to comply with agreements
Business Wire
NAIROBI, Kenya -- February 6, 2013
Five Forty Aviation Limited (“Five Forty Aviation” or “the Company”) announces
that it has withdrawn the licences it had granted to Lonhro Aviation (BVI) Ltd
operations in Angola, Ghana and Tanzania (“FastJet’s Africa Operations”) to
use the Fly540 brand with immediate effect. This is due to the failure on the
part of FastJet’s Africa Operations to comply with the respective licence
agreements signed with the Company.
In June 2012, FastJet (formerly known as Rubicon Diversified Investments plc)
acquired Lonrho Aviation (BVI) Ltd (“Lonrho Aviation”) thereby gaining control
of the assets and liabilities of Lonrho Aviation’s three subsidiaries: Fly 540
Angola – Sociedade de Aviação Civil SARL (“Fly540 Angola”), 540 Ghana Limited
(“Fly540 Ghana”) and Fly540 (T) Limited (“Fly540 Tanzania”). FastJet’s Africa
Operations have been licensing the Fly540 brand from Five Forty Aviation since
2008. FastJet flies three Fly540-branded planes in Angola and two in Ghana. It
flew two planes using the Fly540 brand in Tanzania until November 2012.
On 24 January 2013, lawyers representing Five Forty Aviation Limited wrote to
Fly540 Angola, Fly540 Ghana and Fly540 Tanzania respectively to inform them
that if they did not demonstrate compliance with the terms and conditions of
the licence agreement within seven days, the Company’s lawyers would withdraw
their ability to use the Fly540 brand.
Specifically, the conditions that are not being adhered to are as follows:
1. Payment of outstanding licence and other fees of US$6.9m, US$0.5m and
US$0.3m for Fly540 Tanzania, Fly540 Angola and Fly540 Ghana respectively as
well as failure to disclose financial information for December 2012
2. Contrary to the licence agreement and despite several reminders, FastJet’s
Africa Operations have not provided information to the Company’s Head of
Safety to demonstrate compliance with Five Forty Aviation’s accepted safety
systems
3. Failure to provide the Company’s Quality Manager with reports demonstrating
that the quality systems are in operation
As FastJet’s Africa Operations have failed to respond, notice has been given
to Fly540 Angola and Fly540 Ghana to re-paint their aircrafts in a neutral
colour. Additionally, FastJet’s Africa Operations have to re-brand all of the
sales offices, removing the Fly540 brand; return all materials containing the
Fly540 logo; and rename the companies other than 540. Also, as per the licence
agreement, the Company has written to the Civil Aviation Authority in all
three countries informing them of the withdrawal of the licences.
Don Smith, CEO of Five Forty Aviation, said: “We had no choice but to take
this action because the most worrying aspect of non-compliance with the
licensing agreement is that we have no way of assuring that the planes are
safe to fly. We have not received any safety reports for the past three months
from FastJet’s Africa Operations and we believe that one plane, which flew
with defects from Tanzania and landed in Nairobi on 14 December, should not
have flown.”
About Five Forty Aviation
Five Forty Aviation Ltd is a low cost airline in Africa that, operating as
Fly540, offers flights to destinations in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Sudan.
Headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, Five Forty Aviation was established in 2005
and commenced operations in 2006. It is the first low cost airline in Africa
to provide intra-country flights, and domestic flights outside of South
Africa.
For more information, please visit www.fly540.com
Contact:
Enquiries
Luther Pendragon
Harry Chathli, Claire Norbury
+44 (0)207 618 9100